Wireless communication system with simplex front-end

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein are various examples of architectures, circuits, devices and methods that provide a simplex architecture so that an antenna serves only transmission or reception signals but not both at the same time. The architecture can include transmit and receive ports that can be dynamically coupled to first and second antenna ports to provide a transmit path and a receive path. The disclosed systems can include a controller configured to provide an antenna select signal to the architecture to control operation of the paths between the signal ports and the antenna ports. The architecture can include antenna tuners associated with individual antennas, the antenna tuners being separately controllable by the controller. The architecture can dynamically switch between a simplex configuration and a configuration that uses a single antenna for transmit and receive operations.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.62/274,440 filed Jan. 4, 2016 and entitled “WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONSYSTEM WITH SIMPLEX FRONT-END,” which is expressly incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

Field

The present disclosure relates to duplexers for wireless communicationsystems.

Description of Related Art

Wireless communication configurations can use a single antenna forsimultaneous transmission and reception. Where a device includes aplurality of antennas, multiple individual antennas can be used forsimultaneous transmission and reception. When an antenna is tuned fortransmission, the change in antenna tuning can adversely affectreception performance metrics.

SUMMARY

According to a number of implementations, the present disclosure relatesto a communications system that includes a duplexer having a transmitport as input for a transmit signal, a receive port as output for areceive signal, and a plurality of antenna ports, the duplexer beingconfigured to route the transmit signal from the transmit port to afirst antenna port of the plurality of antenna ports, the first antennaport selected based on an antenna select signal, and to route thereceive signal to the receive port from a second antenna port of theplurality of antenna ports, the second antenna port selected based onthe antenna select signal. The communications system also includes acontroller configured to provide the antenna select signal to theduplexer.

In some embodiments, the duplexer is configured to route the transmitsignal to the first antenna port of the plurality of antenna ports basedon a first antenna select signal and the duplexer is configured to routethe receive signal from the first antenna port based on a second antennaselect signal. In some embodiments, the controller is configured togenerate the antenna select signal to provide antenna switch diversity.In some embodiments, the controller operates the duplexer so that thefirst antenna port is used for transmit signals and not receive signalsand the second antenna port is used for receive signals and not transmitsignals.

In some embodiments, the communications system further includes a firstantenna tuner coupled to the first antenna port and a second antennatuner coupled to the second antenna port. In further embodiments, thecontroller is configured to separately tune the first antenna tuner andthe second antenna tuner. In further embodiments, the controller isconfigured to tune the first antenna tuner and the second antenna tunerat different times. In further embodiments, the controller is configuredto tune the first antenna tuner during a transmit interslot period andto tune the second antenna tuner during a receive interslot period. Infurther embodiments, the controller is configured to tune the firstantenna tuner to a first impedance and to tune the second antenna tunerto a second impedance different from the first impedance. In furtherembodiments, the controller is configured to tune the first antennatuner and the second antenna tuner based on a band select signal. Infurther embodiments, the controller is configured to tune at least oneof the first antenna tuner or the second antenna tuner based on thetransmit signal. In further embodiments, the communications systemfurther includes a coupler configured to provide a measurement of thetransmit signal. In further embodiments, the controller is configured totune at least one of the first antenna tuner or the second antenna tunerbased on the receive signal. In further embodiments, the controller isconfigured to tune at least one of the first antenna tuner or the secondantenna tuner based on a received signal strength indicator. The receivesignal strength indicator can be determined as a result ofdown-conversion and demodulation of the desired and received referencesignals.

In a number of implementations, the present disclosure relates to aradio-frequency (RF) module that includes a packaging substrateconfigured to receive a plurality of components. The module alsoincludes a communications system implemented on the packaging substrate,the communications system including a duplexer having a transmit port asinput for a transmit signal, a receive port as output for a receivesignal, and a plurality of antenna ports, the duplexer being configuredto route the transmit signal from the transmit port to a first antennaport of the plurality of antenna ports, the first antenna port selectedbased on an antenna select signal, and to route the receive signal tothe receive port from a second antenna port of the plurality of antennaports, the second antenna port selected based on the antenna selectsignal, the communications system further including a controllerconfigured to provide the antenna select signal to the duplexer.

In some embodiments, the communications system further includes a firstantenna tuner coupled to the first antenna port and a second antennatuner coupled to the second antenna port. In further embodiments, thecontroller is configured to separately tune the first antenna tuner andthe second antenna tuner. In some embodiments, the duplexer is coupledto one or more power amplifiers.

In accordance with some implementations, the present disclosure relatesto a wireless device that includes a transceiver configured to generatea transmit radio-frequency (RF) signal and receive a receive RF signaland a plurality of antennas. The wireless device also includes afront-end module (FEM) in communication with the first antenna and thesecond antenna, the FEM including a packaging substrate configured toreceive a plurality of components, the FEM further including acommunications system implemented on the packaging substrate, thecommunications system including a duplexer having a transmit port asinput for the transmit RF signal, a receive port as output for thereceive RF signal, and a plurality of antenna ports respectively coupledto the plurality of antennas, the duplexer being configured to route thetransmit RF signal from the transmit port to a first antenna port of theplurality of antenna ports selected based on an antenna select signaland route the receive RF signal to the receive port from a secondantenna port of the plurality of antenna ports selected based on theantenna select signal, the communications system further including acontroller configured to provide the antenna select signal to theduplexer.

In some embodiments, the communications system further includes a firstantenna tuner coupled to the first antenna port and a second antennatuner coupled to the second antenna port and the controller isconfigured to separately tune the first antenna tuner and the secondantenna tuner.

In accordance with one or more implementations, a communications systemis provided that includes a duplexer having a transmit port as input fora transmit signal, a receive port as output for a receive signal, and aplurality of antenna ports, the duplexer being configured to route thetransmit signal from the transmit port to a first or second antenna portof the plurality of antenna ports based on an antenna select signal, andto route the receive signal to the receive port from a first or secondantenna port of the plurality of antenna ports based on the antennaselect signal. The communications system also includes a controllerconfigured to provide the antenna select signal to the duplexer and toswitch between a switch combining operating mode that causes theduplexer to route the transmit signal from the transmit port to thefirst antenna port and to route the receive signal from the firstantenna port to the receive port, and a simplex operating mode thatcauses the duplexer to route the transmit signal from the transmit portto the first antenna port and to route the receive signal from thesecond antenna port to the receive port.

For purposes of summarizing the disclosure, certain aspects, advantagesand novel features of some embodiments have been described herein. It isto be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may beachieved in accordance with any particular embodiment. Thus, theembodiments provided herein may be carried out in a manner that achievesor optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught hereinwithout necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught orsuggested herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication configurationconfigured to transmit and receive on multiple antennas simultaneously,the configuration having a module disposed between the output of atransceiver and a plurality of antennas.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of transmission during a plurality oftransmission slots and reception during a plurality of reception slots.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a duplexer includingsingle-pole/single-throw (SPST) switches.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a duplexer includingsingle-pole/double-throw (SPDT) switches.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate an example wireless communication system witha power amplifier with integrated duplexer that can support simultaneoustransmission and reception on multiple antennas.

FIG. 6A illustrates an example wireless communication system with apower amplifier with integrated duplexer that can support transmissionand reception on either of multiple antennas.

FIG. 6B illustrates an example wireless communication system with aplurality of modules for different frequency bands, each moduleincluding a duplexer that can support simplex or switch combiningoperating modes.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example module that at least partiallyincorporates at least some elements of the wireless communicationsconfigurations of FIGS. 1 5, and 6.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example wireless device having one or moreadvantageous features described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS

The headings provided herein, if any, are for convenience only and donot necessarily affect the scope or meaning of the claimed invention.

In some wireless communication configurations, an antenna is used fortransmission and reception simultaneously. When an antenna is tuned fortransmission, the change in antenna tuning can adversely affectreception performance metrics. In particular, an antenna can be tunedfor transmission during a transmission interslot period that does notcoincide with a reception interslot period, resulting in degradation ofthe reception error vector magnitude (EVM).

Disclosed herein are various examples of circuits, devices and methodsthat can be configured to, among other things, address the foregoingchallenges associated with wireless communication systems. In someimplementations as described herein, individual antennas are configuredas a simplex channel that transmits or receives, but does not transmitand receive at the same time. In certain implementations, acommunications system (e.g., a front end module) can be configured todynamically switch between a simplex configuration having an antenna fortransmitting signals and an antenna for receiving signals, and a switchcombining configuration that can use the same antenna for transmittingand receiving signals.

Examples are provided herein of architectures, circuits, devices andmethods that provide a simplex architecture so that an antenna servesonly transmission or reception signals but not both at the same time. Aduplexer can include transmit and receive ports that can be dynamicallycoupled to first and second antenna ports to provide a transmit path anda receive path. The disclosed systems can include a controllerconfigured to provide an antenna select signal to the duplexer tocontrol operation of the paths between the signal ports and the antennaports. The duplexer can include antenna tuners associated withindividual antennas, the antenna tuners being separately controllable bythe controller. In certain implementations, the duplexer can beconfigured to operate in a simplex configuration in a first operatingmode and in a switch combining configuration in a second operating mode.In various implementations, a communication system incorporating theconcepts disclosed herein can use a first antenna for transmission only,a second antenna for providing primary receiver functionality, and athird antenna for providing diversity receiver functionality.

Advantageously, the disclosed systems, devices, architectures, andmodules enable separate transmit and receive antenna tuning states. Thiscan allow the impedance and/or radiation condition for transmit andreceive antennas to be tailored simultaneously for improved performance.Similarly, the timing of the adjustment in gain from or to an antennacan be dedicated so that neither antenna experiences a change deep intothe slot timing where it can degrade performance. The disclosedarchitectures allow for dynamic modifications in the timing of theadjustment in tuning parameters. Antenna switch diversity can bemaintained using the concepts disclosed herein. In some implementations,to improve or tune performance, measurements based on transmit signalsalone (e.g., using a coupler) and/or using received signal strengthindicator (RSSI) can be applied to tailor the antenna tuner state.

Beneficially, the disclosed architectures allow for antenna tuners to beadjusted at advantageous times (e.g., during interslot periods) so thatgain changes do not significantly degrade performance metrics of thetransmit path and/or the receive path. The disclosed architectures alsobeneficially allow for antenna switch diversity. Furthermore, the numberof antenna tuners is not necessarily increased from otherimplementations that do not utilize the disclosed architectures.Moreover, different tuning states can be applied for transmit andreceive paths so that either path is not significantly degraded by theother.

FIG. 1 schematically shows an example wireless communicationconfiguration 100 that includes a module 190 disposed between atransceiver 180 and a plurality of antennas 130 a-130 b. The module 190includes a duplexer 110 having a transmit port 101 as input for atransmit signal provided by the transceiver 180 and a receive port 102as output for a receive signal provided to the transceiver 180. Theduplexer 110 has a plurality of antenna ports respectively coupled tothe plurality of antennas 130 a-130 b via respective antenna tuners 120a-120 b. The module 190 further includes a controller 140 that controlsthe duplexer 110 and tunes the antenna tuners 120 a-120 b. The antennatuners 120 a-120 b can be tuned by the controller 140 to provide, forexample and without limitation, a tunable gain, a tunable phase-shift, atunable impedance, a tunable antenna shape, a tunable radiation pattern,any combination thereof or the like.

In some embodiments, the controller 140 can configure the duplexer 110to route the transmit signal from the transmit port 101 to multipleantenna ports and to route the receive signal from multiple antennaports to the receive port 102. Thus, in some embodiments, the wirelesscommunication configuration 100 can be used to transmit and receive onmultiple antennas simultaneously. In some implementations, the duplexer110 routes transmit signals and receive signals to a single antenna in aswitch combining operating mode. In certain implementations, theduplexer 110 routes transmit signals to a first antenna 130 a andreceive signals from a second antenna 130 b in a simplex operating mode.In some embodiments, the module 190 can be configured to dynamicallyswitch between the switch combining operating mode and the simplexoperating mode.

When an antenna is simultaneously used for reception and transmission,tuning the antenna (e.g., by tuning the respective antenna tuner) fortransmission can adversely affect reception quality metrics. As shown inFIG. 2, an antenna can be used to transmit during a plurality oftransmission slots 210 a-210 c and to receive during a plurality ofreception slots 220 a-220 c. Each transmission slot 210 a-210 c can beseparated by a transmission interslot period during which data is nottransmitted. In some embodiments, the transmission interslot period isapproximately 20 microseconds. Similarly, each reception slot 220 a-220b can be separated by a reception interslot period during which data isnot received. In various implementations, transmission slots 210 a-210 cand reception slots 220 a-220 c may not be aligned. For example, theLong Term Evolution (LTE) specification specifies that user equipment(UE) transmissions be time-aligned when arriving back at an eNode Btower. Timing advance can cause an offset 201 between transmission slots210 a-210 c and reception slots 220 a-220 c which can be as much as 667microseconds for some 3GPP cell sizes. Tuning the antenna fortransmission during a transmission interslot period can make apotentially large gain change that adversely affects the reception EVM,as the gain change can occur deep into the reception slot.

Thus, in some embodiments and with reference to FIG. 1, the controller140 can configure the duplexer 110 to route the transmit signal from thetransceiver 180 through the transmit port 101 to a first antenna port(and to an associated first antenna) of the plurality of antenna ports,the first antenna port selected based at least in part on an antennaselect signal received from the controller 140. Similarly, thecontroller 140 can configure the duplexer 110 to route the receivesignal to the transceiver 180 through the receive port 102 from a secondantenna port (and from an associated second antenna) of the plurality ofantenna ports, the second antenna port selected based at least in parton the antenna select signal received from the controller 140. Thus, insome embodiments, the wireless communication configuration 100 can beused to transmit on one of the multiple antennas and to receive onanother of the multiple antennas.

The duplexer 110 can be configured to route the transmit signal from thetransceiver 180 to a first antenna port of the plurality of antennaports (and to the first antenna 130 a of the plurality of antennas)based on a first antenna select signal from the controller 140 and toroute the receive signal to the transceiver 180 from the first antennaport (and from the first antenna 130 a) based on a second antenna selectsignal from the controller 140. Thus, the controller 140 can generatethe antenna select signal to provide antenna switch diversity.

Thus, each antenna 130 a-130 b can be used for transmission orreception, but not both at the same time. The controller 140 can tunethe antenna tuners 120 a-120 b at an appropriate time. For example, thecontroller 140 can tune the antenna tuners 120 a, 120 b during atransmission interslot period for an antenna used for transmission orduring a reception interslot period for an antenna used for reception.Thus, gain changes for transmission have little or no effect on the EVMand/or other performance metrics for reception. Similarly, gain changesfor reception have little or no effect on performance metrics fortransmission.

The controller 140 can separately tune the first antenna tuner 120 a andthe second antenna tuner 120 b. This allows the controller 140 to tune atuner for transmission so that it does not significantly compromisereception and/or to tune a tuner for reception so that it does notsignificantly compromise transmission. For example, the controller 140can tune the first antenna tuner 120 a at a first time and the secondantenna tuner 120 b at a second time different than the first time(e.g., during non-overlapping transmission interslot periods andreception interslot periods). As another example, the controller 140 cantune the first antenna tuner 120 to a first impedance and tune thesecond antenna tuner 120 b to a second impedance different from thefirst impedance.

In some embodiments, the antenna tuner state can be based at least inpart on the transmit signal and can be offset a known amount forreception. In some embodiments, the antenna tuner state can be based atleast in part on the receive signal. For example, the antenna tunerstate can be based at least in part on a received signal strengthindicator (RSSI). In some embodiments, the antenna tuner state can bebased at least in part on a band select signal indicating one or morecellular frequency bands of the transmit signal and/or receive signal.In some embodiments, the antenna tuner state can be based at least inpart on a measurement of the transmit signal from one or more couplersbetween the antennas 130 a, 130 b and the duplexer 110.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a duplexer 310 includingsingle-pole/single-throw (SPST) switches 320, transmit and receivefilters 362, and phase shift components 364. The duplexer 310 has atransmit port 301, a receive port 302, and a plurality of antenna ports330 a, 330 b. By controlling the switches 320 via a control line 303,the duplexer 310 can route signals received at the transmit port 301 toone or more of the antenna ports 330 a-330 b through targeted transmitfilters 362 and phase shift components 364. Similarly, by controllingthe switches 320 via the control line 303, the duplexer 310 can routesignals from one or more of the antenna ports 330 a-330 b to the receiveport 302 through targeted receive filters 362 and phase shift components364. For example, in a switch combining operating mode, by closing thetop two or the bottom two switches 320, the duplexer 310 can routesignals from the transmit port 301 to a targeted antenna port 330 a or330 b and route signals from the targeted antenna port 330 a or 330 b tothe receive port 302. As an example of a simplex operating mode, byclosing the top switch and the bottom switch, the duplexer 310 can routesignals from the transmit port 301 to the first antenna port 330 a androute signals from the second antenna port 330 b to the receive port302. As an example of another simplex operating mode, by closing themiddle switches, the duplexer 310 can route signals from the transmitport 301 to the second antenna port 330 b and route signals from thefirst antenna port 330 a to the receive port 302. In some embodiments,when operating in a switch combining mode, the antenna port not beingused for primary transmit and receive operations can be used fordiversity receive functionality and/or for other purposes.

In certain implementations, the duplexer 310 routes transmit signalsfrom the transmit port 301 to one of the antenna ports 330 a, 330 b androutes receive signals from another of the antenna ports 330 a, 330 b tothe receive port 302. In various implementations, the duplexer 310 usesthe switches 320 to create a first signal path between a first signalport (e.g., the transmit port 301 or the receive port 302) and the firstantenna port 330 a and to create a second signal path between a secondsignal port different from the first signal port (e.g., the transmitport 301 or the receive port 302) and the second antenna port 330 b.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a duplexer 410 includingsingle-pole/double-throw (SPDT) switches 420 a, 420 b, transmit andreceive filters 462, and phase shift components 464. The duplexer 410has a transmit port 401, a receive port 402, and a plurality of antennaports 430 a, 430 b. By controlling the switches 420 a, 420 b via acontrol line 403, the duplexer 410 can route signals from the transmitport 401 to either of the antenna ports 430 a, 430 b. Similarly, bycontrolling the switches 420 a, 420 b via the control line 403, theduplexer 410 can route signals from one of the antenna ports 430 a, 430b to the receive port 402. In certain implementations, the duplexer 410routes transmit signals from the transmit port 401 to one of the antennaports 430 a, 430 b and routes receive signals from another of theantenna ports 430 a, 430 b to the receive port 402. In variousimplementations, the duplexer 410 uses the switches 420 a, 420 b tocreate a first signal path between a first signal port (e.g., thetransmit port 401 or the receive port 402) and the first antenna port430 a and to create a second signal path between a second signal portdifferent from the first signal port (e.g., the transmit port 401 or thereceive port 402) and the second antenna port 430 b. In certainimplementations, the duplexer 410 uses the switches to direct transmitand receive signals to and from the same antenna port to the transmitport 401 and the receive port 402, respectively. In some embodiments,when operating in such a switch combining mode, the antenna port notbeing used for primary transmit and receive operations can be used fordiversity receive functionality and/or for other purposes. Furthermore,it is to be understood that more than two antennas may be implemented inthe disclosed configurations of FIGS. 3 and 4. Three or more antennasmay be used to provide diversity receive functionality, carrieraggregation, MiMo capability, and the like.

In some implementations, any of the duplexers (or the modules includinga duplexer) disclosed herein can include power amplifiers or othercomponents. For example, the duplexer can be implemented as a poweramplifier with integrated duplexer (or PAiD). As used herein, a PAiDincludes one or more power amplifiers, one or more duplexers, and one ormore antenna switch modules. Any of the modules or duplexers disclosedherein can be implemented as a PAiD.

FIGS. 5A, 5B and 6A show examples of a PAiD. FIG. 5A shows a wirelesscommunication system 500 that can support simultaneous transmission andreception on multiple antennas 530 a, 530 b. The wireless communicationsystem 500 includes a PAiD 510 having a transmit port 501 for receivinga transmit signal (e.g., from a transceiver) and receive ports 502 a-502b for providing a receive signal (e.g., to a transceiver). The PAiD 510further has a plurality of antenna ports respectively coupled to aplurality of antennas 530 a, 530 b via a respective plurality of antennatuners 520 a, 520 b.

The PAiD 510 includes power amplifiers 550 a-550 b, various matchingcomponents 560, various diplexers 562, various harmonic rejectioncomponents 564, various phase shift components 565, various switches566, and various filters 569. The PAiD 510 further includes couplers 570coupled to a test port for providing a measurement of the transmitsignal. The PAiD 510 further includes a controller 540 for routingvarious signals through the PAiD and, optionally, for controlling theantenna tuners 520 a-520 b.

The wireless communication system 500 further includes a voltageconverter 572 for receiving a battery voltage and providing a supplyvoltage to the PAiD 510. It should be noted that although the low band(LB) frequencies are shown in FIGS. 5A, 5B and 6A, similar architecturesor systems can be implemented for mid-band frequencies, high-bandfrequencies, or any combination of frequencies.

The wireless communication system 500 illustrates a system with gangedfilters 562. The system 500 can be configured to direct receive signalsfrom a particular antenna to a particular receive port and to directtransmit signals from the transmit port 501 to the same antenna. In someembodiments, an antenna that is not coupled to the ganged filters 562can be coupled to a separate receive-only module so that both antennascan be used at the same time, one for transmit-only, receive-only, ortransmit and receive with the PAiD 510 and one for a different module(e.g., diversity receiver, MIMO module, etc.). As an example, theantenna not coupled to the ganged filters 562 can be coupled to the LBRXDIV pin for use in another module, front end system, or the like.

FIG. 5B illustrates a wireless communication system 500 that is similarto that illustrated in FIG. 5A, with the addition of another antenna 530c coupled to an antenna switch module. In certain implementations, oneantenna can be used for transmit only while the other two antennasprovide receive only functionality. In various implementations, oneantenna can provide transmit and receive functionality while anotherantenna provides receive functionality and the third provides diversityreceive functionality.

FIG. 6A illustrates a wireless communication system 600 that can supporttransmission and reception on either of multiple antennas. The wirelesscommunication system 600 includes a PAiD 610 having a transmit port 601for receiving a transmit signal (e.g., from a transceiver) and receiveports 602 a, 602 b for providing a receive signal (e.g., to atransceiver). The PAiD 610 further has a plurality of antenna portsrespectively coupled to a plurality of antennas 630 a, 630 b via arespective plurality of antenna tuners 620 a, 620 b.

The PAiD 610 includes power amplifiers 650 a, 650 b, various matchingcomponents 660, various bandpass filters 662, various harmonic rejectioncomponents 664, various phase shift components 665, and various switches666. The PAiD 610 further includes couplers 670 coupled to a test portfor providing a measurement of the transmit signal. The PAiD 610 furtherincludes a controller 640 for routing various signals through the PAiDand, optionally, for controlling the antenna tuners 620 a-620 b.

The wireless communication system 600 further includes a voltageconverter 672 for receiving a battery voltage and providing a supplyvoltage to the PAiD 610.

The system 600 includes a PAiD 610 having a transmit port 601 as inputfor a transmit signal, receive ports 602 a, 602 b as output for areceive signal, and a plurality of antenna ports coupled to antennas 630a, 630 b. The PAiD 610 can be configured to route the transmit signalfrom the transmit port 601 to a first or second antenna of the pluralityof antennas 630 a, 630 b based on an antenna select signal, and to routethe receive signal to a targeted receive port 602 a, 602 b from a firstor second antenna port of the plurality of antenna ports based on theantenna select signal. The PAiD 610 can be configured to switch betweena switch combining operating mode that causes the duplexer to route thetransmit signal from the transmit port 601 to the first antenna port 630a and to route the receive signal from the first antenna port 630 a tothe receive port 602 a, and a simplex operating mode that causes thePAiD 610 to route the transmit signal from the transmit port 601 to thefirst antenna port 630 a and to route the receive signal from the secondantenna port 630 b to the receive port 602 a. This architecturesimultaneously supports both simplex (e.g., dedicated Tx-only andRx-only antenna connections) with switch-combined duplexer connection ofthe Tx and Rx filters toward a shared signal path.

Similar to FIG. 5B, the system 600 can include one or more additionalantennas coupled to the antenna switch module. In variousimplementations, one antenna can be used for transmit only while theother two antennas provide receive only functionality. In variousimplementations, one antenna can provide transmit and receivefunctionality while another antenna provides receive functionality andthe third provides diversity receive functionality.

As compared to the PAiD 510 of FIG. 5, the PAiD 610 of FIG. 6 hassimplified routing and improved isolation. Further, the PAiD 610includes bandpass filters 662 rather than diplexers 552 as in the PAiD510 of FIG. 5. The wireless communication system 600 of FIG. 6 includesthe same number of antenna tuners as the wireless communication system500 of FIG. 5. It is to be understood that although two antenna portsand/or two antennas are illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3-6, more antennaports and associated antennas can be implemented using the featuresdisclosed herein to provide the same or similar advantages as describedherein. Switching in the PAiD 610 determines whether filters get gangedand provides ganged filters or separation of Tx and Rx filters androuting to separate Tx-only and Rx-only antennas. The switching in thePAiD 510 and/or PAiD 610 can include throws dedicated to transmitsignals and throws dedicated to receive signals.

The system 600 can be configured to tune an antenna for transmit-only ona first antenna and to tune a different antenna for receive-only. Thesystem 600 can be configured to tune an antenna for transmit and receiveon a first antenna and to use the other antenna for diversity receivefunctionality, MiMo functionality, carrier aggregation, and the like.For example, the other antenna can be dynamically coupled to anotherreceive-only module for diversity purposes or for downlink MiMopurposes.

FIG. 6B illustrates an example wireless communication system 900 with aplurality of modules 990 a-990 c for different frequency bands (e.g.,low band (LB), mid band (MB), and high band (HB)), each module 990 a-990c including a PAiD 910 a-910 c that can support simplex operation and/orswitch combining operation. In some embodiments, the PAiDs 910 a-910 care configured to dynamically switch between simplex and switchcombining operating modes. The system 900 includes a transceiver 980 forproviding transmit and receive signals. Each PAiD 910 a-910 c includes atransmit port 901 a-901 c as an input for a transmit signal within arespective frequency band (e.g., LB, MB, or HB) and a receive port 902a-902 b as an output for a receive signal within a respective frequencyband. The modules 990 a-990 c are coupled to triplexers 975 a, 975 bconfigured to direct signals to the appropriate module 990 a-990 c,depending on a frequency of the signal. The triplexers 975 a, 975 b arerespectively coupled to antennas 930 a, 930 b that transmit and receivesignals. Each PAiD 910 a-910 c can be configured to operate in a simplexoperating mode (as described herein). In some implementations, each PAiD910 a-910 c can be configured to switch between operating in a simplexoperating mode and a switch combining mode (as described herein).Accordingly, the system 900 can be configured to provide transmit-onlyfunctionality in a low band while mid-band and high band can bereceive-only or both transmit and receive. Any permutation of bands(e.g., LB, MB, HB, etc.) configured for transmit only, receive only, andtransmit and receive is encompassed by this disclosure.

FIG. 7 shows that in some embodiments, some or all of wirelesscommunication configurations (e.g., those shown in FIGS. 1, 5, and 6)can be implemented, wholly or partially, in a module. Such a module canbe, for example, a front-end module (FEM). In the example of FIG. 7, amodule 700 can include a packaging substrate 702, and a number ofcomponents can be mounted on such a packaging substrate 702. Forexample, an FE-PMIC component 704, a power amplifier assembly 706, amatch component 708, and a multiplexer assembly 710 can be mountedand/or implemented on and/or within the packaging substrate 702. Othercomponents such as a number of SMT devices 714 and an antenna switchmodule (ASM) 712 can also be mounted on the packaging substrate 702. TheASM can include a duplexer 707 as described herein that provides twosimplex channels. Although all of the various components are depicted asbeing laid out on the packaging substrate 702, it will be understoodthat some component(s) can be implemented over other component(s).

In some implementations, a device and/or a circuit having one or morefeatures described herein can be included in an RF electronic devicesuch as a wireless device. Such a device and/or a circuit can beimplemented directly in the wireless device, in a modular form asdescribed herein, or in some combination thereof. In some embodiments,such a wireless device can include, for example, a cellular phone, asmart-phone, a hand-held wireless device with or without phonefunctionality, a wireless tablet, etc.

FIG. 8 depicts an example wireless device 800 having one or moreadvantageous features described herein. In the context of a modulehaving one or more features as described herein, such a module can begenerally depicted by a dashed box 700, and can be implemented as, forexample, a front-end module (FEM).

Referring to FIG. 8, power amplifiers (PAs) 820 can receive theirrespective RF signals from a transceiver 810 that can be configured andoperated in known manners to generate RF signals to be amplified andtransmitted, and to process received signals. Similarly, low-noiseamplifiers (LNAs) 826 can receive their respective signals for deliveryto the transceiver 810. The transceiver 810 is shown to interact with abaseband sub-system 808 that is configured to provide conversion betweendata and/or voice signals suitable for a user and RF signals suitablefor the transceiver 810. The transceiver 810 can also be incommunication with a power management component 806 that is configuredto manage power for the operation of the wireless device 800. Such powermanagement can also control operations of the baseband sub-system 808and the module 700.

The baseband sub-system 808 is shown to be connected to a user interface802 to facilitate various input and output of voice and/or data providedto and received from the user. The baseband sub-system 808 can also beconnected to a memory 804 that is configured to store data and/orinstructions to facilitate the operation of the wireless device, and/orto provide storage of information for the user.

In the example wireless device 800, outputs of the PAs 820 are shown tobe matched (via respective match circuits 822) and routed to a duplexer707 for routing to a particular antenna 816 a, 816 b. The duplexer 707can be configured as any of the duplexers described herein. In someembodiments, the duplexer 707 can include an antenna switch module forrouting to a targeted antenna. Received signals are routed to low-noiseamplifiers (LNAs) 826 through a match circuit 824. The duplexer 707includes a transmit port 701 for receiving a transmit RF signal and areceive port 702 for providing a receive RF signal. The duplexer 707also includes a plurality of antenna ports 730 respectively coupled tothe plurality of antennas 816 a, 816 b. The duplexer 707 is configuredto route the transmit RF signal from the transmit port 701 to a firstantenna port of the plurality of antenna ports 730 selected based on anantenna select signal. The duplexer 707 is also configured to route thereceive RF signal to the receive port 702 from a second antenna port ofthe plurality of antenna ports 730 selected based on the antenna selectsignal. The module also includes a controller 840 configured to providethe antenna select signal to the duplexer 707, as described in greaterdetail herein.

A number of other wireless device configurations can utilize one or morefeatures described herein. For example, a wireless device does not needto be a multi-band device. In another example, a wireless device caninclude additional antennas such as diversity antenna, and additionalconnectivity features such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout thedescription and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and thelike are to be construed in an inclusive sense, as opposed to anexclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of“including, but not limited to.” The word “coupled”, as generally usedherein, refers to two or more elements that may be either directlyconnected, or connected by way of one or more intermediate elements.Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below,” and words of similarimport, when used in this application, shall refer to this applicationas a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. Wherethe context permits, words in the above Description using the singularor plural number may also include the plural or singular numberrespectively. The word “or” in reference to a list of two or more items,that word covers all of the following interpretations of the word: anyof the items in the list, all of the items in the list, and anycombination of the items in the list.

The above detailed description of embodiments of the invention is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formdisclosed above. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, theinvention are described above for illustrative purposes, variousequivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the invention,as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. For example, whileprocesses or blocks are presented in a given order, alternativeembodiments may perform routines having steps, or employ systems havingblocks, in a different order, and some processes or blocks may bedeleted, moved, added, subdivided, combined, and/or modified. Each ofthese processes or blocks may be implemented in a variety of differentways. Also, while processes or blocks are at times shown as beingperformed in series, these processes or blocks may instead be performedin parallel, or may be performed at different times.

The teachings of the invention provided herein can be applied to othersystems, not necessarily the system described above. The elements andacts of the various embodiments described above can be combined toprovide further embodiments.

While some embodiments of the inventions have been described, theseembodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are notintended to limit the scope of the disclosure. Indeed, the novel methodsand systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of otherforms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in theform of the methods and systems described herein may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the disclosure. The accompanying claims andtheir equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications aswould fall within the scope and spirit of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A communications system comprising: a duplexerhaving a transmit port as input for a transmit signal, a receive port asoutput for a receive signal, and a plurality of antenna ports, theduplexer being configured to route the transmit signal from the transmitport to a first antenna port of the plurality of antenna ports duringeach of a plurality of transmission slots with individual transmissionslots separated by transmission interslot periods, the first antennaport selected based on an antenna select signal, and to route thereceive signal to the receive port from a second antenna port of theplurality of antenna ports during each of a plurality of reception slotswith individual reception slots separated by reception interslotperiods, the second antenna port selected based on the antenna selectsignal; a first antenna tuner coupled to the first antenna port; asecond antenna tuner coupled to the second antenna port; and acontroller configured to provide the antenna select signal to theduplexer, to operate the duplexer so that the first antenna port is usedfor transmit signals and not receive signals and the second antenna portis used for receive signals and not transmit signals, to tune the firstantenna tuner during individual transmission interslot periods, and totune the second antenna tuner during individual reception interslotperiods.
 2. The communications system of claim 1 wherein the duplexer isconfigured to route the transmit signal to the first antenna port of theplurality of antenna ports based on a first antenna select signal andthe duplexer is configured to route the receive signal to the receiveport from the first antenna port based on a second antenna selectsignal.
 3. The communications system of claim 1 wherein the controlleris configured to tune the first antenna tuner to a first impedance andto tune the second antenna tuner to a second impedance different fromthe first impedance.
 4. The communications system of claim 1 wherein thecontroller is configured to tune the first antenna tuner and the secondantenna tuner based on a band select signal.
 5. The communicationssystem of claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to tune at leastone of the first antenna tuner or the second antenna tuner based on thetransmit signal.
 6. The communications system of claim 5 furthercomprising a coupler configured to provide a measurement of the transmitsignal.
 7. The communications system of claim 1 wherein the controlleris configured to tune at least one of the first antenna tuner or thesecond antenna tuner based on the receive signal.
 8. The communicationssystem of claim 7 wherein the controller is configured to tune at leastone of the first antenna tuner or the second antenna tuner based on areceived signal strength indicator.
 9. The communications system ofclaim 1 wherein individual transmission interslot periods are 20microseconds.
 10. The communications system of claim 1 wherein thecontroller is further configured to tune the first antenna tuner and thesecond antenna tuner during non-overlapping transmission interslotperiods and reception interslot periods.
 11. The communications systemof claim 1 wherein the controller is further configured to generate theantenna select signal to provide antenna switch diversity.
 12. Aradio-frequency (RF) module comprising: a packaging substrate configuredto receive a plurality of components; and a communications systemimplemented on the packaging substrate, the communications systemincluding a duplexer having a transmit port for receiving a transmitsignal, a receive port for providing a receive signal, and a pluralityof antenna ports, the duplexer being configured to route the transmitsignal from the transmit port to a first antenna port of the pluralityof antenna ports during each of a plurality of transmission slots withindividual transmission slots separated by transmission interslotperiods, the first antenna port selected based on an antenna selectsignal, and to route the receive signal to the receive port from asecond antenna port of the plurality of antenna ports during each of aplurality of reception slots with individual reception slots separatedby reception interslot periods, the second antenna port selected basedon the antenna select signal, the communications system furtherincluding a first antenna tuner coupled to the first antenna port, thecommunications system further including a second antenna tuner coupledto the second antenna port, the communications system further includinga controller configured to provide the antenna select signal to theduplexer, to operate the duplexer so that the first antenna port is usedfor transmit signals and not receive signals and the second antenna portis used for receive signals and not transmit signals, to tune the firstantenna tuner during individual transmission interslot periods, and totune the second antenna tuner during individual reception interslotperiods.
 13. The RF module of claim 12 wherein the duplexer is coupledto one or more power amplifiers.
 14. The RF module of claim 12 whereinthe controller is further configured to tune the first antenna tuner andthe second antenna tuner during non-overlapping transmission interslotperiods and reception interslot periods.
 15. The RF module of claim 12wherein the duplexer is configured to route the transmit signal to thefirst antenna port of the plurality of antenna ports based on a firstantenna select signal and the duplexer is configured to route thereceive signal to the receive port from the first antenna port based ona second antenna select signal.
 16. The RF module of claim 12 whereinindividual transmission interslot periods are 20 microseconds.
 17. Awireless device comprising: a transceiver configured to generate atransmit radio-frequency (RF) signal and receive a receive RF signal; aplurality of antennas; and a front-end module (FEM) in communicationwith the first antenna and the second antenna, the FEM including apackaging substrate configured to receive a plurality of components, theFEM further including a communications system implemented on thepackaging substrate, the communications system including a duplexerhaving a transmit port as input for the transmit RF signal, a receiveport as output for the receive RF signal, and a plurality of antennaports respectively coupled to the plurality of antennas, the duplexerbeing configured to route the transmit RF signal, during each of aplurality of transmission slots with individual transmission slotsseparated by transmission interslot periods, from the transmit port to afirst antenna port of the plurality of antenna ports selected based onan antenna select signal and route the receive RF signal, during each ofa plurality of reception slots with individual reception slots separatedby reception interslot periods, to the receive port from a secondantenna port of the plurality of antenna ports selected based on theantenna select signal, the communications system further including afirst antenna tuner coupled to the first antenna port, thecommunications system further including a second antenna tuner coupledto the second antenna port, the communications system further includinga controller configured to provide the antenna select signal to theduplexer, to operate the duplexer so that the first antenna port is usedfor transmit signals and not receive signals and the second antenna portis used for receive signals and not transmit signals, to tune the firstantenna tuner during individual transmission interslot periods, and totune the second antenna tuner during individual reception interslotperiods.
 18. The wireless device of claim 17 wherein individualtransmission interslot periods are 20 microseconds.
 19. The wirelessdevice of claim 17 wherein the controller is further configured to tunethe first antenna tuner and the second antenna tuner duringnon-overlapping transmission interslot periods and reception interslotperiods.
 20. The wireless device of claim 17 wherein the controller isfurther configured to generate the antenna select signal to provideantenna switch diversity.